October can only mean one thing to a movie geek - horror films! Halloween is the perfect time to catch up on the latest in slice and dice fare and this year the folks over at Lionsgate and Ghost House Pictures have got fans covered with the release of eight new Underground DVD's featuring horror, mayhem and mystery. We're celebrating the release of the new Ghost House DVD titles that include Dance of the Dead, No Man's Land: The Rise of the Reeker, Dark Floors, The Substitute, Brotherhood of Blood, Trackman, The Last House in the Woods and Room 205 with a short reviews of all eight films, a revealing and candid interview with long time producing partner of Sam “Evil Dead” Raimi and Ghost House head man Rob Tapert, plus a giveaway at the bottom where one lucky fan will get a chance to win their very own set of all the DVD's in one cool package! It's scary, it's creepy, it's Ghost House Revealed!
THE FILMS
1. DANCE OF THE DEAD - 5 stars
Remember when horror films were fun? Apparently, Director Gregg Bishop does and his wonderfully devilish Dance of the Dead is a classic example. From the engaging premise (the geeks who don't get invited to the prom are forced to save the day!) to the wild sight gags (the dead literally springboard out of the respective graves!), Bishop has made a film that harks back to the good old days of Return of the Living Dead, infused with a Monster Squad sensibility and all on a shoestring budget no less. (And with the most DVD extras of all of the Underground titles, this is the set's top dog!) Dance of the Dead is one five star affair all the way - one bloody prom worth dying for!
THE INTERVIEW
When one thinks of the long career of Sam Raimi, one has to give major kudos to producer Rob Tapert. As Sam's right hand man, Rob has had his hand in every Raimi project from Evil Dead to Spiderman, plus he's produced a ton of TV fare including Xena and Hercules. The213.net talked with Tapert about the upcoming Ghost House Underground films, working with Sam after all these years and the possibility of a Hard Target (which he produced!) John Woo Director's Cut DVD.
(213): Did you and Sam pick the eight films for the Ghost House Underground collection?
Rob Tapert: We probably picked a little more than half directly. That said we watched all of them. Some of them Sam was in the thinks of other things with, but we watched them all. And there was a couple of movies that our partners in this Stan Wertlieb and Barry Booker and from Grindstone said, 'We need to make sure that this horror package include this type of material.'
(213): Was there any specific criteria for the selections, something you looking for?
RT: No. We were hoping to cover all the bases, but it was one of those strange things where we had lost a couple of movie that we were hoping to get in the package. I guess they went in a different direction, those chose someone else not us!
(213): I have my own favorites, Dance of the Dead and The Substitute are amazing, any personal favorites for yourself?
RT: You picked my favorite two! Dance of the Dead, we certainly want to do something with that filmmaker...
(213): The great Gregg Bishop!
RT: Yeah, we think he's incredibly talented. Sam hooted and howled and roared through the entire thing and I think he saw a youthful version of himself in that
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